Share on

Lille vs Nantes Match Prediction

By Marius Hrebenciuc

Lille will be looking to carry on their pre-season form into the new Ligue 1 campaign when they welcome Nantes at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Sunday afternoon. Lille registered a comfortable 4-2 home win over Rennes in a friendly fixture last weekend thanks to a brace from Nicolas De Preville, a goal from Ezequiel Ponce and another goal from Edvinas Gertmonas. Meanwhile, Nantes lost 0-1 at the hands of Genoa, with Claudio Ranieri’s men conceding a late goal. Below we have our betting tips, predictions, team news and match stats all in our SBAT preview.

Betting Predictions and Tips

Lille have enjoyed a much better form than Nantes in the pre-season, but the visitors still managed to secure some impressive results recently under the guidance of their new coach Claudio Ranieri. I think that Nantes are capable to get on the scoresheet here, but at the end of the day, Lille should be able to grab all three points.

Terre Sainte

Marseille

Avranches

Angers

FT 1 - 1

(HT 1 - 1)

W
A

31-07-2018

Club Friendlies

Vitre

FT 1 - 2

(HT 0 - 1)

L
A

03-08-2018

Club Friendlies

Brighton & Hove Albion

FT 2 - 1

(HT 1 - 0)

L
H

11-08-2018

Ligue 1

Monaco

FT 1 - 3

(HT 0 - 0)

Lille Preview

Lille finished in a disappointing 11th spot in Ligue 1 last term and the main reason for their poor performance has been their inefficient attack as they have only scored 40 goals in 38 rounds. However, Lille looked pretty solid during the pre-season, losing just once in their five friendlies. It appears that Lille have solved their defensive problems, as they have kept three clean sheets in their five friendlies. The truth is that Lille have spend a lot of money on transfers this summer as they brought in Thiago Maia, Luiz Araujo, Nicolas Pepe, Kevin Malcuit, Thiago Mendes, Edgar Ie, Xeka, Naim Sliti and Caju for a total fee of €65.5m. In terms of departures, they have only lost three players as Soualiho Meite went to Zulte Waregem for €5.1m, Sebastien Corchia to Sevilla for €5m and Baptiste Guillaume to Angers for €2m. They will be definitely competing for a Europa League spot this season under the guidance of the new coach Marcelo Bielsa. On home soil, Les Dogues are currently on a three-game winning streak across all competitions, scoring at least two goals in each of these. Furthermore, Lille have won four of their last five home meetings with Nantes across all competitions, keeping a clean sheet in each of these.

Lille Team News

Eric Bautheac, Hamza Mendyl, Nicolas Pepe and Adama Soumaoro are all missing through injury, while vincent Enyeama is a doubt.

Nantes Preview

Meanwhile, Nantes finished on an incredible 7th spot in the Ligue 1 table with just eight points off the European places. However, Nantes looked terrible in the pre-season, winning just once in five friendlies. The most worrying fact is that Nantes have failed to score a single goal in their most recent three games. It should be interesting to see how Nantes will look this season under the guidance of Claudio Ranieri, who was sacked less than a season after leading Leicester City to the Premier League title. Ranieri is believed to have signed a two-year deal after the Ligue de Football Professionnel waived its age rules and allowed Nantes to appoint the 65-year-old coach, who replaces Sergio Conceicao who left Nantes this summer to take charge of Porto. Nantes have sold one of their last season’s best players during this summer as Amine Harit joined the Bundesliga side FC Schalke 04 for €8m. However, it seems that Ranieri is strengthening the defensive zone at the moment as he decided to bring in Fiorentina’s goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu for €2.5m and Bordeaux’s centre-back Nicolas Pallois for another €2m. Nantes have been one of the most unpredictable away sides in Ligue 1 last term, but they still managed to collect 23 points from their 19 league trips. Head-to-head, Nantes are winless in the last four meetings with Lille across all competitions since a 0-1 away win back in 2015.

Nantes Team News

Joris Kayembe and Enock Kwateng are both missing through injury ahead of this trip.